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Echo & Alexa Forums

Radio on the Echo WITHOUT a skill!?

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babaganoosh

Radio on the Echo WITHOUT a skill!?
« on: July 17, 2017, 01:17:10 pm »
I listen to WCBS in NY city.  On the iphone I use radio.com or tunein apps.  In chrome, they use tunein.com

http://player.radio.com/listen/station/wcbs-fm
http://tunein.com/radio/WCBS-FM-1011-s27759/

There's no skill for radio.com and tunein for the dot

We just got the dot this weekend.  We play the radio on our laptop in the kitchen

My wife asked about listening on the dot and I explained there's no skill for that.

She said 'alexa, play 101.5 wcbsFM'

It started playing!!!!

For some other stations we listen to, she didn't know those stations, like:

http://nj1015.com/listen-live/popup/?wo=true

Is there a list of stations or criteria to know which stations would be available without a skill?




strayfish

Re: Radio on the Echo WITHOUT a skill!?
« Reply #1 on: July 17, 2017, 01:42:51 pm »
I believe TuneIn is default - you don't need a skill to access it. So if TuneIn has your preferred station in its catalogue, you should be able to play it on your Dot. Check it out on TuneIn's website to see if what you're looking for is there.

malliekm

Re: Radio on the Echo WITHOUT a skill!?
« Reply #2 on: July 17, 2017, 02:02:55 pm »
I just say, "Alexa, play WBAP 820" (AM talk radio) and she does it.  I think she says it's coming from iHeart Radio.  I don't have a subscription to anything music related.

Alpha Bitch

Re: Radio on the Echo WITHOUT a skill!?
« Reply #3 on: July 17, 2017, 02:26:47 pm »

Is there a list of stations or criteria to know which stations would be available without a skill?
In my experience, as long as you say the stations "call letters" as well as AM or FM,  the Alexa device will play it.  No skillz necessary.

FWIW, I am a talk show junkie.  I listen to talk show stations from all over the world.  I am in the USofA, so what I did was Google "foreign English speaking" talk show radio stations call letters.

Offline jwlv

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Re: Radio on the Echo WITHOUT a skill!?
« Reply #4 on: July 17, 2017, 02:29:23 pm »
I've also found that if your location is set correctly in the Alexa app (either the full address or just the ZIP code), you can say something like, "Alexa, play 102.7 FM" and it will play the local station on that frequency.

k9kids

Re: Radio on the Echo WITHOUT a skill!?
« Reply #5 on: July 17, 2017, 03:01:08 pm »
Go your Alexa app and tap the hamburger icon at top left of your screen.  Click on music, videos and books and you'll see what is available.

The only service that says you don't need to link an account is TuneIn.

You can also set a default for music services by tapping to settings and then scroll down to Music & Media.
« Last Edit: July 17, 2017, 03:09:47 pm by k9kids »

babaganoosh

Re: Radio on the Echo WITHOUT a skill!?
« Reply #6 on: July 17, 2017, 06:49:28 pm »
tunein is native - THANKS!!!!